Maharashtra education officials refuse to make changes in Class 10, 12 exam schedule after protests

Two days after a group of students hit the streets demanding either cancellation of exams or an online exam for Classes X and XII State Boards, the Maharashtra government, on February 3, announced that the tests will be held in-person as declared earlier. Additional time for students to solve the question papers will be provided, The Hindu reported.

Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) said that Class X exams will be held between March 15 and April 4, 2022, for which around 16.25 lakh students will appear, while the Class XII exams will be held between March 4 and March 30, 2022, for which around 14.72 lakh students will appear.

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The Board has decided to provide an extra time of 30 minutes for a 70-100 marks paper, while 15 more minutes will be given for a 40-60 marks paper as students may have lost practice of time-bound writing. The question paper will be given 10 minutes before the starting bell. Also, a minimum additional time of 20 minutes per hour will be provided to students with disabilities.

“The State Board has made arrangements to ensure Board exams are conducted in a secure and student-friendly manner,” said Maharashtra's School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad.

A student will be given two chances for orals or practicals if they fall sick and the second chance will be after the written tests. The written test will be based on 75 per cent of the total syllabus as 25 per cent has already been cut. The students will write the exams in the school/college they study in.

Since all practicals have not been conducted due to the pandemic situation, for Class XII, these exams will be based on 40 per cent of the subject-wise syllabus or the number of finished experiments. Similar criteria will be used for Class X.